Managing Your Bill

There are a number of ways you can influence and control the amount of electricity you use, which in turn will affect your line usage charges.

The amount of power an appliance uses depends on its wattage. 1000 watts equals one kilowatt. If you run a 1000 watt appliance for one hour, you will use one ‘unit’ or one Kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity.

A 100 watt light bulb will use one unit of electricity over a 10 hour period.

Tips to save energy and keep your line costs down:

• Ensure your home is well insulated to reduce heating costs.
• Use efficient heaters with thermostats.
• Wrap your hot water cylinder to minimise heat loss.
• Turn your hot water temperature down to 55°C.
• Showers generally use less hot water than baths.
• Fix dripping hot water taps.
• Use cold wash cycle on your washing machine.
• Microwaves, pressure cookers, crock pots and electric frypans all use less power than an oven.
• Install energy efficient lightbulbs and turn lights off when not in the room.

The price of electricity also varies depending on what time of day you use it. You can find useful infomation about options for saving electricity at powerswitch.org.nz.

In extreme cases of hardship, we may be able to help you navigate that bump in the road. Click here to see if you qualify and then have a chat to our Credit Team on 0800 367 546.